(un)happy anniversary

I've never been one to make sentimental promises. I was never one to say or scribble in yearbooks "we'll be friends forever" because I could never say such things without feeling deceitful.

But in my last weeks in Uganda, I freely spoke of returning, of visiting, of not forgetting. When I uttered those words, I did mean them. I did want and intend to go back sooner than later, certainly within a year or two. As of yesterday, it has been three full years since I left Uganda. I still have no immediate plans to return.

Come to think of it, I made and have yet to keep similar promises to return to and visit friends in Congo. Those good intentions have been unrealized for well over five years.

Can I blame Africa for this? For seducing me and causing me to lose my head, to declare devotion and make vain promises? Though of this I'm certain: it woos many others who do keep their word; I miss it more than it misses me.